cognitive characteristics

• poor concentration

  depression is associated with poor levels of concentration. the sufferer may find themselves unable to stick to as task or might find it hard to make straightforward decisions. poor concentration and decision making can interfere with the individuals work
• attending to and dwelling on the negative

  when suffering a depressive episode people are inclined to pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. e.g. see a glass as half empty rather than half full. sufferers also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones.
• absolutist thinking

  when a sufferer is depressed they tend to think all situations are all good or all bad. they sometimes call this black and white thinking. this means that when a situation is unfortunate they tend to see it is as an absolute disaster